Stars earn 5th straight state title with win over Moose

PALMER — Longtime Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen needed only four words to sum things up Saturday afternoon.

“Good season, tough day,” Christiansen said after his players walked off Machetanz Field following a 49-13 loss to the Soldotna Stars in the ASAA First National Bowl medium-schools state championship game at Palmer High School.

Soldotna used a 49-point afternoon to win its fifth consecutive medium-schools state title, and extend its state-record winning streak to 49 straight victories.

Soldotna junior Brenner Furlong rushed for a game-high 265 yards and five touchdowns in the win. Furlong’s effort was part of a 352-yard day for a Soldotna rushing attack, which produced the ideal recipe for success on an afternoon that featured blistering winds throughout the contest.

The Stars played with the wind to their backs during the first quarter, and built a 14-0 lead. Christiansen said he believed Palmer’s inability to capitalize with the wind to their backs in the second quarter, while trailing only 14-0, played a key role in the outcome.

“They had the wind and it was only 14-0. We had the wind, and didn’t take care of business,” Christiansen said.

Palmer also turned the ball over twice, which led to a pair of Soldotna touchdowns in the second quarter.

Three of Furlong’s touchdowns came in the first half. Jace Urban also had a first-half touchdown, and quarterback Jersey Truesdell connected with tight end Andy West on a 5-yard touchdown score in the first half.

“We didn’t have a solution for what they do,” Christiansen said.

The game marked the second meeting for the season for the Northern Lights Conference rivals. Soldotna beat Palmer 42-21 in Soldotna midway through the year, which was Palmer’s lone loss in NLC play this year. Christiansen said Palmer used a different defensive game plan the second time around.

“We had a different defense out there than when we played them the last time,” Christiansen said.

Palmer was also forced to play without junior Jeff Glynn, a key defensive starter for much of the game, after Glenn re-aggravated an old injury.

Junior Larry Cutsforth led the Palmer offense with 145 yards on 14 carries. Cutsforth also accounted for both Palmer scores. He used a 37-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to spoil SoHi’s shutout bid. Cutsforth added a 50-yard scamper for a score on the final play of the game.

Palmer advanced to the state title game in just its second year as a member of the medium-schools class. Palmer was an original member of the old NLC before ASAA reclassified football prior to the 2000 season. From 2000 until 2015, Palmer was part of the large-schools Railbelt Conference. In another effort to reclassify, ASAA dropped Palmer from the Railbelt to the NLC prior to the 2015 season.

Palmer had the rare chance to play for a state title on its home field. Prior to the 2016 season, ASAA awarded Palmer High School with a three-year bid to host the medium and small-schools state championship tournaments.

PHS will host the events again in 2017 and 2018.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.